


The Folly of Occam's Razor [Percival Graves x OC]

by TechnoFay



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Canon Universe, Eventual Romance, F/M, Female Character of Color, Humor, MACUSA | Magical Congress of the United States of America, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Percival Graves is Bad at Feelings, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Possibly Pre-Slash, Pre-Canon, Sarcasm, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Tags May Change, Workaholic Original Percival Graves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:08:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9428951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TechnoFay/pseuds/TechnoFay
Summary: Career thief Vee Chambers had a run in with the law. Will striking a deal with Auror Percival Graves be the answer to her problems?





	

Vee Chambers lurked through the lower halls of the MACUSA building, stepping lightly around the guards stationed at the end of the hall, then ducked around a corner unseen.  


She hefted up the straps of her bag, a large draw-stringed bag made of mokeskin. She had paid a pretty penny for it, but it was well worth the expense given what it carried.

Getting inside the building had been easier than she anticipated, and now armed with an invisibility cloak, muffled shoes, and a ring that rendered detection charms all but useless, there was little chance of anyone noticing her. She had waited for almost five hours outside the door she wanted access to, needing an Unspeakable come in or out so she could enter undetected, and finally managed entrance after a pair of them left the room.

She crept inside, eyes peeled for other agents, but the room was empty, save for herself and a mind boggling amount of magical trinkets.

This place was better than she imagined; silver and gold ornaments of all shapes and sizes sat upon the shelves that lined the walls, their length stretching all the way down out of sight and what looked to be miles above her head.

Vee weaved through an assortment of dark, cursed objects suspended in the glass cases that were littered around the room, a large red ruby with an almost sinister glow to its center caught her eye, and she had to fight herself to drag her eyes away from it.

That was not what she was here for.

She searched through the collection until she came upon an array of jewelry, scanning the tags until one caught her eyes.

A small locket with a dull silver sheen, plain really in comparison to all the other bejeweled pieces, but the description was what she was concerned about.

According to the tag, the locket was layered with so many shielding charms, that the wearer had to be careful when casting spells, which given her skills, she could work around.

It was perfect.

She drew a pin knife from her boot, slowly running it along the edges of the case before silently lifting the lid. Now that the tricky part was over, Vee plucked the locket from it's resting place and crammed it in her bag, her hand lingering over the case for a moment before she snatched a pair of earrings that were said to render the wearer invisible when rubbed.

Those would sell quite nicely.

She was just closing the case when she heard the door slam open followed by approaching footsteps.

“We know you're there thief! Come out and surrender!”

Well this certainly complicated matters.

Having no other options, Vee pulled the bag shut and ran. She slipped beneath her cloak and waved through the throngs of people, but their numbers were proving difficult to dodge around.

She pressed herself against a wall, digging hastily into her pocket. An invisibility cloak could only get you so far, so she had prepared other methods for escape, starting with a smokescreen.

Now they went from not seeing her, to not seeing anything.

She had managed to slide out of the elevator in the confusion, stuffing the cloak into her bag as she bolted for the door, shielding herself from the spells being blasted at her.

Save for one that came from behind.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

Moments from freedom, the spell struck her square in the back and she froze in place before slowly tipping over, hitting the ground with a hard, bone rattling thud.

Paralyzed from the spell, Vee lay on the floor and slowly closed her eyes.

Shit.

Should have warn that damn locket...

* * *

 

Vee sat in a holding cell in MACUSA, leaning back in her chair and staring at the ceiling. This was taking entirely too long...

But, given the discovery of who she actually was, there was little surprise a full investigation was being held; she was a known affiliate of Grindelwald after all, so no doubt they were preparing to run her through the ringer.

Or at least attempt to.

A young nervous looking wizard entered alongside a fair haired icy looking witch, the wizard taking a seat across from Vee as the witch stood in the corner with a dark blue quill, her hand posed above a length of parchment.

“August twenty fifth, 1924,” The wizard spoke in a high clear voice, and the witch began writing. The man, nay, boy barely looked old enough to shave, let alone lead an interrogation and Vee looked at him as if he was a piece of meat.

Oh, this was going to be delightfully easy.

“N-name?” The wizard asked, sitting up a bit too stiffly as he began to question her.

“Vee Chambers, and you are?” she asked, and the wizard looked as if he was about to answer before a noise from the corner silenced him. He returned to his stiff as a board stance and continued, his boyish face comically serious.

“We can't get into your bag, since it's mokeskin... what is it you have you got in there?”

“Wouldn't you like to know?” Vee replied, leaning her face on her hand and looking rather bored. The wizard looked terrified at first by her moving, then grew angry and puffed up farther, reminding Vee of the numerous pigeons she had run into outside.

“You need to answer my questions!” The wizard's voice cracked a bit, and he cleared his throat, trying to compose himself without much success.

“No, I really don't,” Vee leveled her gaze on him, pleased when he flinched at the sudden eye contact. She stared him down, cocking her head to the side and licking her lips.

“Better yet, why don't you skip along junior, and let me see your boss instead?” She waved one hand dismissively, and the wizard jumped back dramatically, knocking over his chair as his hand went to his wand.

Vee burst out laughing as the witch taking notes pursed her lips in disgust, the pair of them leaving, Vee's laughter ringing out in the corridor until the door was shut again.

The door opened again and she heard the wizard from before, apologizing profusely to a “Mr. Graves” before another sterner voice silenced him.

An imposing looking man she presumed was Graves stepped in; middle aged with dark slick backed hair and a crisp appearance, a stark contrast to the clown they first sent in.

He was obviously the man in charge, or at least high up enough in the ranks to walk with a confident gait that Vee genuinely respected him. He would be tougher to deal with, but perhaps with a little work, she could still break him.

“Oh? Sending the big boys in now to deal with little ol' me?” she asked in a fake saccharine voice.

The man known as Mr. Graves ignored her condescending tone and picked right back up where the other wizard had left off, settling in the chair across from her and asking questions as the tight lipped witch behind him scribbled down notes.

“Name?”

“Don't you already know all of this?” she asked, smirking.

“Name.” It was less of a question this time and Vee decided that it would be much better the quicker this went; not that she was going to make it easy for him.

“Vee Chambers.”

_ Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch... _

“Age?”

“You know it's rude to ask a lady her age, right?” Vee said, and Graves gave her a hard stare, his brow raising an increment. Vee rolled her head back and let out a loud sigh.

“29.”

_ Scratch scratch scratch... _

Graves continued to watch her and Vee regarded him with disinterest, her mind more focused on how she was going to get out of here. Maybe the pin knife she had hidden in her boot could – 

Graves spoke again and broke her concentration.

“What happened to your wand?” He asked finally, and Vee let out a snort.

“I've been wondering that myself,” she said coolly. There was a bitterness in the edge of her voice, and Graves presumed that it had been stolen from her by the other sympathizers, or even lost in her capture. More scribbling from the witch and Vee stifled the urge to get up and snap her quill in half.

“Well, it's not as if you'll be needing it where you're going,” Graves said, his expression serious.

“Oh? And where am I going? Straight into the death chamber? Or are you going to ship me off to prison first?” She asked, slowly sitting up in her seat, more intrigued than worried. If they tried to transfer her, she had a good chance of escape. Graves opened his mouth to reply, but another thought popped into Vee's head and she ran with it, interrupting him before he could speak.

“Or... why don't we make a deal?” she asked, a sly expression taking over her face. Graves raised his brows again and the witch behind him stopped scribbling, looking at her boss as if mentally urging him not to listen.

“You are trying to find Grindelwald; I can help. I'm high enough in the ranks that I can give you insight on where he's going and when.”

Graves eyed her, his face unreadable.

“And in return?” he spoke, making the witch behind him drop her quill. She hastily bent down and picked it up, her cheeks coloring as she ferociously scribbled down more notes. Vee's grin broadened and she leaned towards Graves.

“I want my freedom and my bag back. I'll even return what I stole from MACUSA, but the rest of it is mine, and you don't get to fiddle around in my belongings,” she said pointedly.

“In return, you'll get insight on Grindelwald's every move. The whens and wheres of his plans; everything, what do you say?” Vee asked, leaning back in her seat as she awaited a reply.

This might work out better than expected...

* * *

 

Percival Graves had walked into the room, quickly taking in the appearance of the criminal in his holding cell and memorized it; average height with a possibly moderate build from what he could gather with her coat in the way, and wiry light brown hair styled in a chin length bob. Her olive green eyes peered out of her face and trained themselves on him, the color a striking contrast to her brown skin.

She was far too relaxed for someone in a holding cell and he had wondered at first how she had managed to steal from the government without anyone knowing who she was, that is until he learned her name. Decidedly clever this one, and full of tricks no doubt; a fact he didn't even need to wait to be proven.

She suggested her little deal, and he watched the smug grin creep across the woman's face; she had leverage, and she knew it.

Her whole body language said so. And it was true, they had little luck and even less leads in finding any trace of Grindelwald as of late.

Graves entertained the idea for a moment.

A double agent? Well, he supposed he could work with that, though no doubt Madame Piquery would take some convincing...

But it might be worth the risk, given this was the first genuine lead they had in weeks. Graves narrowed his eyes at Vee, studying her closely as she sat there in attentive silence, eyes on him still as she awaited his answer.

She was good enough to break into the Ministry of Magic and escape before anyone knew she was there, and snuck into MACUSA without detection, albeit it was not as clean of a getaway. Given she was known to have direct contact with Grindelwald, this was a opportunity that should at least be discussed with Piquery.

“Were we to take this deal, your whereabouts would be constantly tracked, and should you attempt to remove the tracer, then the deal is off.”

“I'll speak with Madame President, but there's no guarantee of her agreeance with this plan,” Graves warned and Vee nodded.

“Understood. I'll wait here then.” She sat there in attentive silence now and Percival took it as a good opportunity to leave, waving the other witch out of the room and rising to his feet.

“So... how did you catch me anyways? My ring should have been enough to protect me from detection,” she asked suddenly, and Graves halted at the threshold, tapping his fingers lightly against the door frame.

“Word of your little stint in England arrived and we took extra precautions in case the mystery thief showed up here; all the objects in holding are enchanted to sound an alarm if disturbed.” He slowly turned back to look at her, the faintest semblance of a grin on his face.

“While we couldn’t detect you entering, we certainly knew if our artifacts were being taken,” he added, exiting the room while Vee sat behind him, looking impressed. What Percival didn't know was she was no longer after MACUSA's secrets, as she had found something far more valuable in their little deal.

An ally with as much power as Graves was sure to help her get what she really wanted.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, feedback is always welcome~


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